![[FILE] French First Lady Brigitte Macron. EFE-EPA/FILE/LUDOVIC MARIN / POOL MAXPPP OUT](https://i0.wp.com/efe.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/rss-efe710dbf5189d2e9e6fd011774962bf6dd39e7165cw.webp?fit=1920%2C1280&ssl=1)
Paris, Jan 6 (EFE).- A Paris court on Monday sentenced ten people to suspended prison terms of between four and eight months for cyberbullying French First Lady Brigitte Macron, meaning they will only serve jail time in the event of reoffending.
The Paris Criminal Court also ordered the defendants to jointly pay 10,000 euros in damages to Brigitte Macron for moral harm.
The court noted “particularly degrading, insulting, and malicious” comments targeting Brigitte Macron.
The defendants, aged between 41 and 65 and from varied professional backgrounds, including a fortune teller, a stockbroker, a writer, a gallery owner and a local elected official, were convicted of spreading false and defamatory claims about the first lady’s gender and sexuality on social media.
Among the false allegations was the claim that Brigitte Macron was born male under the name “Jean-Michel Trogneux,” which in fact belongs to her brother.
The defendants also alleged that she is transgender and posted abusive comments about the 24-year age difference between her and President Emmanuel Macron.
President Macron is 48 and Brigitte 72.
According to court documents, the accused further attempted to link the beginning of the couple’s relationship, when Emmanuel Macron was a teenager and Brigitte Macron his high school teacher, to alleged pedophilia, claims the court described as malicious and unfounded.
The judges ruled that the actions constituted a coordinated campaign of online harassment, rejecting the defendants’ arguments that the content was protected by freedom of expression.
Tiphaine Auzière, the youngest daughter of Brigitte, told the trial in October that her mother’s health and private life suffered because of the cyberbullying campaign.
“I wouldn’t wish on anyone what my mother is going through,” said Auzière, 41, in the second and final session of the trial.
“She constantly suffers the consequences of these lies,” she told the packed courtroom, which had to be moved to a larger venue due to intense media attention.
“My mother has developed anxiety related to her grandchildren, who hear in school that their grandmother is a man,” Auzière said. “She cannot escape the horrors said about her, not for a single second.”
The case drew international attention after US conservative influencer Candace Owens amplified the false claims in 2024 to her millions of followers.
In response, the Macron family has filed a separate defamation lawsuit against Owens in the United States. EFE
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